Fish Report

Well, this morning there was ice on the waterholes and needless to say a bite in the air. So needless to say when you get my age the cold weather lets you know with the aches and pains in your joints that you are not as young as you used to be. But if you enjoy the woods, you forget the weather and the old age problems and head out.

If you are out running around be sure to watch for deer because they are out on the edge of the road and the silly season is in full force. Some evenings you can easily see 10 to 20 deer along the road. I have seen a number of bucks but nothing for the record books.

There are a number of trappers out enjoying the fall trapping season. Most of them I see are the old timers that just cannot give it up. There seems to be some good money in some furs after a number of years of low profits. The last few years have been a blessing in covering expenses and making a few dollars.

I am asking for a show of hands for those that like the time change the Exspurts in the legislature put us through. The way it is now if a bow hunter gets off second shift he hardly has time to get out to his stand. I sure would like to know the reason for the time change that made sense to a normal person.

Just a side note it not only af-fects hunters but people with young kids have a real problem getting them on a new schedule.

You know I have always said that those people that live below the bridge are a totally different type person. An old timer that grew up here in Manistique and likes my books called and put me on this squirrel hunter’s problem.

It seems that this party got himself a squirrel and took his trophy home. He made plans to have the squirrel for dinner and being from below the bridge really had no idea how to go about it. He finally came up with an idea and took his squirrel out on the deck and decided to burn the hair off it with a propane torch.

All was going as good as could be expected until he started his apartment on fire. By the time all was said and done our hunter and his squirrel caused between two and three million dollars in damage to an apartment complex and put-ting dozens of people out of their homes.

Now this is what you would call one expensive bowl of squirrel stew.

A news release I received.

The Department of Natural Resources today remembered two Upper Peninsula conservation officers who died in the line of duty during the month of October.

Conservation Officer Andrew Schmeltz died on Oct. 20, 1936, near the Carp River in Marquette County. Schmeltz was working a complaint of illegal trapping when he encountered an unlicensed hunter with a .22 caliber rifle.

During the contact, Schmeltz was struck with the butt of the gun and shot twice in the chest. The killer hid the officer’s body and returned later that night, attempting to cover up the crime by setting off dyna-mite on the body. The man eventu-ally confessed to the murder and the location of the officer’s body.

“Conservation Officer Andrew Schmeltz was killed while following up on a complaint from a local citizen,” said DNR Law Enforcement Division Chief Gary Hagler “Conservation officers then, as now, work closely with natural resource users.”

Conservation Officer Thomas Mellon died Oct. 23, 1947, when he was piloting a boat carrying five other men toward a wildfire along the Manistique River in Schoolcraft County. Mellon was seated in the rear of the boat, operating the out-board motor, when the boat hit a submerged deadhead in the river. The river was approximately 12 feet deep and about 160 feet wide, with a strong current, as the boat started taking on water and began to sink.

Mellon and the other men ended up in the water. Four men made it to shore and attempted to rescue the other two. CO Mellon and Con-rad Oberg were lost; their bodies were recovered later that night.

“Conservation Officer Thomas Mellon died responding by boat to a forest fire in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula.” said Chief Hagler. “Conservation officers respond to a wide variety of emergencies that put themselves in dan-ger to protect the public and natural resources.”

This year marks the 125th anniversary of conservation law enforcement in Michigan. Schmeltz and Mellon are two of the 12 fallen conservation officers commemorated by the DNR earlier this year on May 15, when the department dedicated the site for a memorial to conservation officers who have died while protecting this state’s natural resources and the citizens who enjoy them.

“Conservation officers’ profession can lead them into harm’s way,” Hagler said. “We will always remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.”